“Rom 18 – 32. “The heart of the problem”
Nothing keeps a person away from Christ more than the unwillingness to see their need and to admit to it: As Jesus put it, “Its not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” By this statement he didn’t mean that some people were righteous, so they do not need salvation, but that some people think they are in a condition of self righteousness and will never admit their need.
Paul here like any doctor will tell you that before a patient can begin to deal with a medical problem they have to be personally aware there is a problem themselves and act upon it by going to the doctor for help: Paul today will show us the heart of the problem in our world is actually the problem of the human heart.
Pastor and writer John Ortberg tells the story of how he and his wife once traded in their old Volkswagen Super Beetle for their first piece of new furniture: a mauve sofa. The man at the furniture store warned them not to get it when he found out they had small children. "You don’t want a mauve sofa" he advised. "Get something the color of dirt." But with the naive optimism of young parenthood they said "We know how to handle our children. Give us the mauve sofa."
From that moment on everyone knew the number one rule in the house. Don’t sit on the mauve sofa. Don’t touch the mauve sofa. Don’t play around the mauve sofa. Don’t eat on, breathe on, look at, or think about the mauve sofa. It was like the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden.
"On every other chair in the house you may freely sit, but upon this sofa, the mauve sofa, you may not sit, for in the day you sit thereupon, you shall surely die." Then came the Fall. One day there appeared on the mauve sofa a stain. A red stain. A red jelly stain!.
So John’s wife, who had chosen the mauve sofa and adored it, lined up their three children in front of it: Laura, age four, Mallory, two and a half, and Johnny, six months. "Do you see that, children?" she asked. "That’s a stain. A red stain. A red jelly stain. The man at the sofa store says it is not coming out. Not forever. Do you know how long forever is children? That’s how long we’re going to stand here until one of you tells me who put the stain on the mauve sofa."
Mallory was the first to break. With trembling lips and tear-filled eyes she said "Laura did it." Laura passionately denied it. Then there was silence, for the longest time. No one said a word. John knew they wouldn’t, for they had never seen their mother so upset. He knew they wouldn’t because they knew that if they did they would spend eternity in the time-out chair. He knew they wouldn’t because he was the one who put the red jelly stain on the sofa, and he wasn’t saying anything! Source: John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted
The truth is, of course, that we have all stained the sofa. That’s what this passage in Romans Rom 1: 18 -32 is all about the depravity of humanity, like John Ortberg the world is saying ‘nothing’ in regard to their own sin (ostrich with its head in the sand).
I’m not sure what went on the Ortberg household after that incident, whether John did confess his misdemeanor, but I do know that in our world as a result of “not saying or doing anything” the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven and as a result there is a Deeping depravity in this world of ours. Paul will press home this devastating fact.
1. The revelation of God v 19 - 20 – 21 - 23.
The first thing that Paul reveals to us is that people have a knowledge of God – v19 -20 Yet we must understand that this knowledge that all people have is not a saving knowledge in Christ because Paul tells us the natural man does not know God Gal 4:8 – 2Thes 1:8 He cannot know God as they are dead in their trespasses and sins Eph 2:1 . The knowledge Paul is addressing here is that of general revelation which is given to all l v 19 -20.
He asserts this point that humanity has a knowledge of him three times: v21 they knew God, v25 they knew the truth about God and v28 they had knowledge about God .
Friends isn’t what Paul is saying true that everybody upon the planet has a knowledge of God. I imagine most of us from a young age could say “ I always have known there was a God” That’s because general revelation about God kicks in straight away - the revelation of Himself he has indelible imprinted upon the whole of creation upon one another and upon even upon our own consciences v32. So from a child to the greatest minds the world have known have received this general revelation:
• Sir Isaac Newton 1642-1727: This most elegant system of suns and planets could only arise from the purpose and sovereignty of an intelligent and mighty being. He rules them all as the Sovereign Lord of all things.’
• Albert Einstein 1879 –1955: ‘The harmony of natural law reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking of human beings is utterly insignificant.’ (Unitarian)
• Louis Pasteur 1822-95: ‘The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the creator.’
Knowing God can be compared to standing outside at night and pointing to the moon. As we point we are aware that while we can see the moon, there is also much about it that we cannot see. We cannot see the craters and mountains dotting the moon’s surface, we cannot see the "dark side" of the moon, and for most of the time there are large sections of the front surface of the moon that we cannot see at all! This is what it’s like knowing God.
First we are reminded that God can be known, just as the moon can be seen. Creation, Christ and Scripture are all fingers pointing to the moon for us.
Second we are reminded that while there is much we know about God there is also much that we don’t know. Just as we cannot see the dark side of the moon, neither its surface, nor the craters and hills of the moon, so there is much about God that we don’t know. So alongside General Revelation lies a mystery.
And third, we are reminded that just as there are times we see a full moon shining and times we see no moon at all, so there are times in our life where God seems to loom large and times when God seems absent. Yet just as the moon exists and casts its light whether or not we see it, so God exists and casts God’s light even at those times we don’t see God.
V19 - 20 General revelation: There is not a man /woman child on this planet from the Amazon rainforest to Oxford University who can claim an utter bankruptcy when it comes to the general revelation of God. All know something of God, the Bible says God has made it plain to us v19 and that they are without excusev20.
Do you have any excuse for not believing in God? The Bible says emphatically No! Every person either accepts or rejects. Don’t be fooled when judgment comes, no excuses will be able to be lobbied before Him. Consider the revelation He has put before you while you’re living and respond:
2. The rejection of God. V18 - V21- v23 - 25-v28
Paul now takes us deeper into the heart of the problem that despite God’s general; revelation to us humanity has has intentional rejected God’s disclosure of Himself. Despite this revelation of God people are living out lives without God:
• A.W. Tozer said “Let (the average man) be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men , between God and personal ambition, between God and human love, and God will take second place every time.”
Genesis 3:The reason for this rejection is found back in the beginning of recorded history when our ancestors Adam and Eve had a relationship with God and yet rejected his advise not to eat from the tree of Knowledge of GOOD AND EVIL that was the one cravat that God had placed upon the couple. Yet they rejected it and man has been rejecting God ever since…… The heart has become faulty, it is diseased and it’s called SIN.
Here we see five rejections:
1. V18 They suppress the truth about God (We kid ourselves)
2. V21 Although they know God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, (self centred)
3. V23 they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. (Idolatry)
David Chilton writes "Man has rejected God and has been replaced with Idolatry and immorality. Herbert Schlossberg quoted Idolatry in its larger meaning is properly understood as any substitution of what is created for the creator. People may worship nature, money, mankind, power, history, or social and political systems instead of the God who created them all. The New Testament writers, in particular, recognized that the relationship need not be explicitly one of cultic worship; a man can place anyone or anything at the top of his pyramid of values, and that is ultimately what he serves. The intimacy of that service profoundly affects the way he lives." SOURCE: in Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation by David Chilton, p. 339
4. V25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Evolution – reinforces/lifestyles immoral lifestyles)
5. V28 they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. (Higher wisdom)
Humanity has rejected and replaced.: Doesn’t this sum up the 21st century the way so many of us are living today? People who suppresses the truth about God, which enables them to live self centered lifestyles accountable to no one. Are we not a society which promotes Idolatry of the created rather than the creator. A society which reinforces and supports immoral lifestyles whether that’s heterosexual, homosexual, lesbian or even transsexual and are we not a society who have become so arrogant that we no longer even consider it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God ( because Its old hat) the 21st century so they think has come of age, we have arrived.
You see the heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart it is depraved, it is ’foul’ it ’stinks’ I was reminded of this only this week let me elaborate with a true story....
The other week as I was entering the front entrance of my home a foul smell became very evident to me – I knew what it was immediately as it wasn’t the first time, my drains were blocked! You see were an end terrace and our corner house not only serves our own home when it comes to the drains, but also the rest of the row in the block.
In these circumstances I knew the action I had to take but I can assure you it wasn’t out of choice but rather necessity I picked up the rods lifted the manhole cover and took a deep breath, but I couldn’t hold my breath any longer the obnoxious smell was engulfed and overtime I suppose you just get used to it.
And this got me thinking about sin in our lives, it’s a bit like the blockage in the drains I was experiencing, we don’t realize anything is wrong so often because sin commences from underneath in the heart. But overtime we start to smell something which isn’t quite right in our lives, it might be to do with a bad temper, immoral actions, a lying tongue, modern day idolatry, selfishness, deceit and so on. You see these things can become a bad smell in our lives and if not dealt with we can become immune to them we know there bad but we get used to it, acclimatized to the status quo just like I did with smell from the drain.
But at this point radical action is called for in the case of the drains, I had to grab the rods and plunge it deep down into the heart of the man hole plunging the hole to clear the blockage after much sweat the blockage was cleared and the excrement flowed and the foul odour dissipated, The rods had done the job .
So it is with our sin we have to get deep down into the human heart to deal with our own depravity, and understand where the bad odours in our lives are coming from. We then need to grab onto the cross of Christ the only instrument that will clear the blockage of human sin, here we need to take radical action and repent of our sin and believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins on that cross at Calvary. This is the place where Jesus Christ unblocked the foulest sewers of our hearts. Then in time you will notice those once held smells will dissipate, the blockage will be cleared because the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.
Lets now take a look at God’s reaction to it all....
3. The reaction of God v18 - v24 – v26 – v28
So what is Gods reaction? Is he bothered? Is he just a distant spectator? Does he just love us anyway, whatever we do? Well yes he is bothered. And No he’s not a distant spectator but intimately involved in the day to day running of this world and our lives and yes he does love us, but its because he loves us that he has to do something about the lives we are living.
Humour: Imagine you’ve just parked your car on double yellow lines but to your astonishment you haven’t just parked your car on double yellow lines, you’ve actually parked it over the traffic wardens feet.” The traffic warden would be very angry and might even let slip some unsavoury words along with your ticket. Unlike the traffic warden God’s reaction is one of anger which is controlled and warranted because you and I have offended him and have broken His holy law. God’s anger is his Holy indignation towards sin
Gods anger is directed: towards sinful acts – which are unholy (we see in the world)
Gods anger is directed: towards the sinner himself - who is un holy v18 . The godlessness and wickedness of men . (None of us can point the finger because there is always two pointing back) Rom 2:1 Read We are all sinners none of us are righteous.
Gods anger is deployed not at just at some future judgement date (in hell that is true) Heb 10 :28 Man is destined to die once and then face the judgement. Paul speaks in the present tense God is angry now.
God’s anger is deployed in the present : People often see God’s judgements in things like earthquakes, Tsunamis famines and such like people often call these events natural disasters, I see these too as natural disasters with a supernatural reason, as a result of a fallen earth and our sinful lifestyles in tandem have completely changed our eco system, approaching the end time. These things Jesus said would increase with greater intensity and that is a scientific fact confirmed. Yet these are just birthing pains of the earth till it is returned to its former glory.
God’s anger is deployed in the present against us:
V18 Its being revealed from heaven: We see that God has given people over; this means that God gives the people exactly what they want. You see before God has his restraining arm, preventing evil, but as a result of humanities rejection of God people pay the consequences of their sinful lifestyles.
• Imagine a parent who repeatedly warns their child of the consequences of playing with matches – yet the child fails to listen - so the parent gives up speaking about it – the restraining arm has gone – so the child rejects the advice and continues playing with matches as a result the next time his parent sees Him he’s in the burns unit at the local hospital as a result of his choices. God has given us over also to our own sinful choices
Here we have a horrendous catalogue of those choices a deepening depravity is found:
V24 God gives people over to sinful desires of their hearts ( sexual impurity and the degrading of our bodies) For instance the norm today is to no longer consider marriage important – we just live together – love has been abandoned to a sexual urge failing to understand it’s a deeply spiritual and God given act.
v26 -27 To shameful lusts: immoral sexual acts (Abandonment of the natural relationships, classed today as viable alternative relationships how long will it be before paedophilia is seen in such a light? All is simply a part of God giving us over to our own sinful choices)
v28. People don’t want God in their minds so God gives them over to a depraved ( debased, metal which is tested for quality it has failed ) So people minds have become unapproved by God. Devoid of godly judgement, unable to understand to appreciate the things of God.
V29 -32 All of which leads to godless anti social behaviour and what we see it all in our present society even in our own lives.
Remember this is our problem. And before you start pointing the finger and saying things ” well I don’t do that “ think again because Paul is not talking about somebody else here, Paul is referring to us all: We are all guilty of rejecting God: Rom 3:10 No – one is righteous, 23 for all have sinned.
Vaughn Roberts: wrote in Life’s Big questions (IVP 2004) P48. Vaughan we always try to point the finger at others thinking there far worse, people like Hitlar, Osman Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and so on. That they are the evil ones but God will not let us do that:
‘During the trial of Adolf Eichmann, the mastermind of the Jewish holocaust in Nazi Germany, a Jewish man , who had just given evidence against him, was found weeping in the corridor . His friend asked him , “Why are you crying?” The man replied, “Because I realize now that he is just a man like I am.. I could have done what he did.” He had imagined some awful monster but, when he saw Eichmann right in front of him, he realized that the Nazi was just a man and the awful truth dawned on him. There are not two categories of people, good or evil. We are all sinful.
We all need to face up to the fact that we all born in the same condition, we have a bias to reject God, Paul wants us all to see that because before we can be given the cure we need to understand that we are all ill in the first place.
Paul wants us to know that were sick, were sinners and before we can be treated we need to confess it to God: The heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart and only faith in Christ can eradicate this disease. Finally who stained the sofa? You did, I did all of us and rather than saying nothing we need to come clean with God.
